Bomb scare at four places in Haridwar

Haridwar: Just a day after four suspected terrorists were arrested from Roorkee, four incidents of bomb scare created panic in the holy city Haridwar.The whole city came to a standstill as a suspicious object was found outside the BSF check post at the railway station at 10:30 am. A bomb disposal squad of the BSF was rushed to the spot and the whole area was cordoned off by the BSF and Uttarakhand Police personnel.

IGP, Ardh Kumbh force, Ganesh Singh Martolia, Haridwar SSP D Senthil Krishan Prakash, SSP, Traffic, Shweta Chaubey and other senior police officials also reached the place. All shops and other commercial establishments were closed and people were told to leave their homes to go to a safe and open space.

As sniffer dogs and explosive detectors indicated presence of explosives, fully-equipped bomb disposal squad personnel were called. They adopted remote diffusion method and attached the remotely diffusing mechanism to the bag. A minor blast occurred in the process, which many people though was an explosive blast and the rumour spread like wildfire in the city.

Markets were soon deserted as people avoided going to open spaces, particularly towards the Railway Station road. The bomb disposal squad immediately senitised the blast spot.

Meanwhile, the closed road was opened for vehicular traffic within 10 minutes and security barricades were removed. Martolia said prima facie, no explosive or bomb was in the bag. The material found in the bag had been sent for forensic investigation.